Superfund Research Program

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August 2022

Joel Meyer, Ph.D., of the Duke University SRP Center, discussed his research into how early-life mitochondrial toxicity can affect later-life health, during his NIEHS Keystone Science Lecture. Meyer studies how pollutants affect mitochondria — tiny organelles in our cells that produce energy — and potentially influence disease.

“Mitochondria are obviously involved in energy generation and regulating cell apoptosis,” said Meyer. (Apoptosis refers to programmed cell death.) “But they do lots of other things, too. They’re involved in calcium homeostasis, thermogenesis, steroid and heme synthesis, innate immunity, and epigenetics.”

Read more in the NIEHS Environmental Factor Newsletter.